Mizuho Corporate Bank To Lead-Manage Bond Issuance In China -Nikkei

4th Jul 2010 18:02

SHANGHAI (Nikkei)--Mizuho Corporate Bank will lead-manage a $400 million bond offering from China Development Bank this month, the first time a foreign bank will serve as a principal underwriter for a bond issuance by a Chinese bank, the Nikkei reported in its July 5 edition. Although the terms have not been disclosed, the dollar-denominated bonds will likely mature in three years. In addition to handling the issuance of the roughly 35 billion yen worth of bonds, the Mizuho Financial Group Inc. (MFG, 8411.TO) unit will buy about a third of the offering. The two banks, which signed a business cooperation agreement last December, intend to strengthen ties in underwriting and other operations. China Development Bank's loans target large projects and state-owned corporations. It issued 670 billion yuan, or about 8.7 trillion yen, in bonds in 2009. China allowed foreign banks to underwrite bonds starting in July 2009 as part of an effort to become an international financial center by gradually opening up its capital market to foreign players. But there has only been one such case so far, with HSBC (HBC, 0005.HK) of the U.K. serving as one of several underwriters. (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 04, 2010 13:02 ET (17:02 GMT)